You are here: silicon.com > Retail & Leisure > News

Embedded chips not getting under shoppers' skin

Mind where you stick that reader

Tags: passport, biometrics, id cards, contactless payment

By Tim Ferguson

Published: 10 October 2006 16:20 GMT

Most people still think paying for their shopping with a chip embedded under their skin is a step too far.

According to Institute of Grocery Distribution research only one in 10 teenagers would be interested, while one in 20 adults would also be open to the idea.

There was significantly greater interest in other biometric payment methods - such as iris recognition and fingerprinting - with 20 per cent of teenagers and 17 per cent of adults saying they would like to use these.

But Kevin Warwick, professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading said the idea of chips embedded under the skin still has "enormous potential".

He said one of the main benefits would be security as there would be little possibility of losing your method of payment - unlike with credit cards.

silicon.com Retail & Leisure

Get the latest retail and leisure news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the R&L newsletter today!

Warwick said he could see the tech taking off in the retail environment if shops offered discounts to people, much like loyalty cards, or if embedded microchips became a fashion item.

But in contrast, Simon Davies, director of civil liberties group Privacy International, said: "The idea of a chip in the skin to purchase goods is laughable."

Davies said the technology would be a "hostile intrusion into human autonomy".

He also pointed out that reading devices for these kinds of chips are "notoriously prone to failure" and that - with the risk of having a chip implanted - people would find this unacceptable.

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure


  • Jobs
Embedded C Software Engineer Wanted - South Coast

Embedded C Software Engineer Wanted - Smart Cards Computer Futures are urgently seeking an embedded software engineer for a key account. My client is ...

IT Support Engineer - Leisure/Bingo - Morley, Leeds - West Yorkshire

IT Support Engineer - Leisure/Bingo - Morley, Leeds - West Yorkshire ? k Due to increasing business demand an opportunity has arisen for an ...

Business Development Manager-Parking Payment Solution Sales

JOB TITLE: Business Development Manager-Parking Payment Solution Sales SELLING: Parking payment solutions provider SELLING TO: Selling to Councils ...

Petra Papinniemi
Legal Eye: Ecommerce held back by outdated laws
No wonder no one's buying...

Matthew Cushen
E-tailers: Be choosy overseas
Markets are not always what they seem

Tim Ferguson
'If you look at iPlayer from a distance, it's still very web 1.0'
Q&A: Erik Huggers, director, BBC's Future, Media and Technology

Kit Burden
Legal Eye: Tech could brighten retailers' gloom
Regulation and recession loom

Matthew Cushen
Retailers: Look to emerging markets
Comment: Massive opportunities if you get the IT right

Julian Goldsmith
How Zavvi lost its Virginity
IT director Tony Johnson on the retailer's changing web strategy

Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.


IT services
Outsourcing, offshoring and much more...



Quick Sitemap Links: